


When Fairies Fall From the Sky

by NayruSol42



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Background Nearly Everyone, Dad Reaper | Gabriel Reyes, Fairies, Fairy!Genji, Fairy!Hanzo, Hanzo Becomes Best Friends With A Fluffy Dog, Hanzo's Pride Is Constantly Wounded, It's All Genji's Fault, Jesse McCree Has a Pomeranian, Jesse McCree Speaks Spanish, Low-Key Tinkerbell AU, M/M, Mutual Pining, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Reaper | Gabriel Reyes Speaks Spanish, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, background Reaper76 - Freeform, background genyatta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 12:13:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15751443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NayruSol42/pseuds/NayruSol42
Summary: Hanzo Shimada. Crown prince of the Kingdom of Fairies, perfect leader, responsible older brother to Genji. As such, he must be the one to find his missing brother after he disappears, no matter how many powerful spirits, fluffy dogs, or a single lonely human--gorgeous as he might be--get in the way.





	1. Mission

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So this whole thing is thanks to my amazing partner lauren-n-taylor who came up with the whole idea (I never knew I needed Fairy!Hanzo so badly). It was really fun planning this out with her and I loved writing the fic! So thank you hun, it was a pleasure working with you <3 Anyways, I hope y'all readers enjoy and don't forget to check out her art in tumblr @lauren-n-taylor !!

“Han! I-I mean, Prince Hanzo! I have a message from the king!” 

Hanzo looked up from the frog orchestra, trying his best to hide his amusement at Lena’s stammering. Lúcio greeted her cheerfully from somewhere below them with a bright smile, trying to get a baritone frog to spit out a barely annoyed Jamison. Hanzo just shook his head disapprovingly, rolling his eyes at them and making Lena giggle.

“Lena, my father is not here. You may call me as you wish.” Lena smiled a bit, but her expression turned worried again. “What is it? Is something wrong?” The speed fairy sighed, even her wings slowing down a bit.

“Oh love. It’s bad news, I’m afraid.” Hanzo knew that expression. And oh, how he hated it.

“Where did he go now? This is the third time this week.” He said tiredly. Lena looked away, only worrying Hanzo further.

“That’s the thing, actually…”

 

‘Oh brother, why must you try our patience like this?’ Hanzo asked himself with a sigh, leaving the boundaries of his kingdom and crossing the depths of the forest, wings fluttering as fast as they could and eyes scanning the place for any signs of Genji. His dragonflies, Udon and Soba, fast on his heels. He sighed in relief when the canopy hid them from the scorching sunlight, before side-eyeing one of his guardians.

“No Udon, you may not go ask the birds for help. You remember the outcome last time you did.” One of the dragonflies visibly sagged. He flew for a few hours at least, enough for the sky to get a reddish tint, before reaching the edge of the forest and finding a small house there. Probably new, he reasoned. Quaint, if maybe a bit poorly decorated. He shrugged and went on his way, flying back to the safety of the trees. No good being spotted by a human while ogling a lonely house.

An hour passed before the sky darkened slightly and the air chilled, strong humidity around him in what seemed like a second. He ignored it. Too long without a trace of Genji made his annoyance turn into genuine worry. Was he lost? Hurt? Had he escaped on a whim or had he actually run away? Was his guardian Ramen with him? Was he alone? Was this about the disagreement they had the other day? The thoughts rushing in his head drowned out the soft plops around him. He didn’t notice his guardians laying low, and he certainly didn’t notice when the hail started.

One second, he was in the air. The next, before he knew it, he was falling. A blinding pain shot up from his wing and he couldn’t keep his scream down when six pairs of legs grabbed him in the air--squishing his wing in the process--and desperately flew him to safety, right below the roots of an old tree. Udon and Soba left him over a soft patch of moss and nudged him until he sat up, grunting and trying his best not to rustle his wing. He looked back, seeing a gaping hole in the edge of his top right wing, before his mind finally gave in to darkness. 

 

Soft sunlight hit his eyes when his consciousness returned, blinking and only giving him a more painful headache. After a minute, he realized he was, in fact, flying. His guardians carried him gently and flew erratically, but Hanzo could easily notice how tired they were from the extra weight. Were it not for him, those two could have flown for days on end.

“Put me down, I can walk. Where are we going?” Without them making any noise, Hanzo could easily understand the rotund “no” from his dear guardians, and settled for rolling his eyes and letting them carry him. It was only a few minutes after that when he noticed a familiar setting.

The little secluded cottage stared back at him when Udon and Soba finally put him down to rest, giving Hanzo a few minutes to admire the view. The now softer rain fell over the red ceiling of the cottage and the glass of a greenhouse very near the edge of the forest, nearly obscuring the golden petals of a few sunflowers within. Snapdragons were planted along the edge of the house, and a flowerbed of alyssums that must make the air smell like honey when the rain didn’t overpower it. Hanzo heard warm laughter from inside the house, followed by high-pitched barking, and took an instinctual step backwards. Just as he did, a large raindrop slid from a leaf above him and fell directly over his head. He sagged his shoulders and sighed, feeling like his very soul had left in his breath. He looked over at Udon and Soba, who watched him curiously from safety, and simply pointed to the greenhouse. 

Without waiting for an answer, he jumped over a--very--small puddle and ran to the edge of the glass construction, minding the strong stream of water falling from the edge of the roof. Near him he noticed the edge of a glass panel was conveniently broken and just barely concealed by a few fallen leaves and, stopping just to whistle at the dragonflies, slipped through the opening. Inside, the hot air felt like a slap to the face, and the smell of flowers and grass was overpowering. Sunflowers towered above him with dazzling golden and crimson petals, next to small bushes of plants with different aromas each, some fresh and some bitter. Further towards the entrance, he could see a few tomato plants and long, segmented cacti. He tried to keep watching and analysing every part of that mysterious garden but, just as he had taken a step outside his cover under some leaves, the greenhouse door opened.

He ran back behind a flowerpot and waited in perfect silence, heartbeat racing and adrenaline in his veins in a second. He saw a tall silhouette, broad and dark in the other side of the glass, hiding under something wide and round, but the mysterious human didn’t walk inside.

“All right, Noony sweetheart. Imma have to leave ya here while the rain stops. Goodness knows my lil’ house has seen better days and I reckon I can’t patch the ceiling with a puffball yippin’ at my feet.” A man’s voice, deep and with a distinctive drawl to his words. Hanzo felt his stomach flutter a bit.

‘Focus, Hanzo. Beautiful voice or not, he must not see me under any circumstances.’ He managed to peek out of his hideout just as the mysterious man mumbled an “I’ll be back fer ya when I finish patchin’ up the ceiling, Noon. Hang tight.” and, sadly, didn’t catch a glimpse of him. The door closed behind the silhouette of the man, and his shadow disappeared into the cottage.

It was then when Hanzo realized there was something else at the door. He lowered his sight slowly, almost dreading what he’d find there. Right in front of the door…

Was the cutest dog Hanzo had ever seen.

The dog--probably called Noon, judging by the strange man’s words--was a small cream-colored pomeranian, wearing a tiny red bandana with an intricate golden pattern wrapped around its neck, and even with the distance Hanzo could notice a few words hand-stitched to it--what they said though, Hanzo had no idea. Maybe a few seconds passed after Hanzo peeked out and noticed the fluffy dog, enough for Hanzo to realize he wasn’t in a very safe position and for Noon to notice a new tiny friend on the other side of the greenhouse. The awkward silence broke when Noon absolutely sprinted at Hanzo, and the prince gave a particularly undignified yelp. He climbed a nearby sunflower with ease and soon towered over the small dog. Noon stood at the base of the plant, yipping happily and occasionally pausing to run a few happy circles. Hanzo smiled at her for a second, before the door bolted open again.

“Noon! Noon, I heard yer barkin’ and I don’t care if I’m bein’ paranoid, you okay?” Hanzo threw himself to the ground in a second, uncaring of the fluffy dog near him. He managed to slow his fall with his tattered wings and fell safely on soft soil, running back behind the flowerpot in a second--peppermint, he noticed absently. 

“Huh? What--” Hanzo’s heart nearly stopped when he heard the man take a step, and immediately started looking for a way out. Just then, the happy yipping came back. “Oh, hey there lil’ lady! You had me scared, ya did! Anyways, I’m just checkin’ up on ya, I’ll be back later.” Noon kept barking excitedly, probably scratching at the man’s legs in the sound of clothes rustling was any sign. Hanzo thought he heard hopping. 

“What, girl, what is it? You find somethin’ in here?” cue happy yipping, followed immediately by thunder that rattled the greenhouse glass walls. Noon barked loudly. “Oh boy, that don’t sound good at all. Sorry girl, I hate to leave ya alone with a thunderstorm goin’ on, but imma have to get back to it. Show me when I’m finished, yeah? Take care.” With that, the man left once again. Hanzo peeked out once again, careful not to alert the dog. Sadly, the little fluffy thing had better memory than Genji--Hanzo ignored his panic for a second to laugh at his joke--and the second the man left, she was back to sprinting at Hanzo. He attempted to climb back up the sunflower, but the searing pain from earlier came back in full force. He glanced back at his wings helplessly, the torn one even worse, and resigned himself to facing the adorable beast head-on.

He frowned, squared his shoulders and stood in all his five inches of height before the dog, trying and failing to stretch his wings. Noon ran until she was but a few inches away from Hanzo and, to Hanzo’s surprise--and relief, since he was completely expecting to get run over-- stopped to wag her whole body as happily as she could. He eyed her suspiciously, before stretching out a hand towards her nose. The beginnings of a smile were barely forming in Hanzo’s face.

Until, of course, thunder boomed nearby. The little dog wrapped herself not unlike a boa around Hanzo, trying to cower behind a fairy not even half her size. Hanzo laughed quietly to himself and ran his hands through Noon’s fur, carefully lifting his wings to avoid being squished by Noon too much. He whispered a few comforting words to her, trying to stop her whimpers. Soon, the cute pomeranian was sleeping peacefully, Hanzo dozing against her side.


	2. Infiltration

Hanzo woke, maybe two hours later, to the sound of the greenhouse door opening again. His face was completely buried in soft, cream-colored fur and his neck had the most awful crick in the universe. It took him a second to process the fact that there was very much a human less than a couple feet away, and the human was very much facing his general direction. 

After quickly analyzing his surroundings to realize the human wasn’t quite looking at him, but rubbing his face and tiredly looking for a certain cream puffball--currently behind a peppermint bush--Hanzo stared at whatever of the man he could see between the leaves, and noticed at least a red cloth similar to Noon’s bandana draped over his shoulders. He seemed broad and muscular, and the skin of his arms was tanned and covered in hair. Hanzo tried to avoid imagining the face that came with all this and focused on getting out of the fluffy mess that was Noon.

Noony, sadly, wouldn’t have it. She woke up the second Hanzo tried to take a step away and absolutely stepped over him, hiding him from sight under a curtain of hair and red cloth. She nudged him with a leg enthusiastically towards the bandana, growing desperate when the man finally noticed them. Hanzo understood and climbed into the red cloth, squishing his wings against his body and holding on for dear life.

“There you are, Noony sweetheart! I was growing mighty worried ‘bout you, hearin’ all that thunder and leaving ya here, but it’s all done! No more risk of wakin’ up with the water up to our chins!” Hanzo felt something pick up Noon and held on even tighter, bunching up a fold in the cloth between his feet like the bandana was some sort of hammock. 

“Aw, ain’t ‘cha a fine sight after all that hard work! What time is it, sweetheart? Do you know? It’s hiiiiigh...” The small dog yipped happily in the man’s arms, and Hanzo wondered just what the hell he was talking about. He couldn’t see anything face down against the cloth, but he could certainly feel being suddenly lifted a few feet in the air in time with the strange man drawing back the vowel.

“...Noon!” He held back a terrified yelp when Noon was honest to god thrown in the air, even if it was only a few inches. Noony yipped what was probably a laugh in dog language, followed by the man’s deep laugh. Hanzo felt positively nauseous, and his wings stung when Noony was caught again. He felt what was probably the man tucking her under his arm, and hoped there were no more “High Noon”s in his time inside the bandana. 

The bandana was warm, but even there he could feel the cold, after-storm air outside the greenhouse. He bounced every time the man took a step, feeling a headache form immediately, and wondered for a second just how he had gotten to that position. Kidnapped by a tiny dog, about to be locked in a human’s house, with an enormous tongue-lashing probably waiting for him at home. 

Hanzo decided not to think about it, and chose instead to curse the very air Genji had flied on.

He wasn’t sure that made sense, but decided to ignore it too.

He heard a door opening, and suddenly the air became warm again. 

The man’s keys jingled, before Noony was put on the floor again. She--thankfully taking care not to squish the annoyed fairy in her bandana--immediately yipped cheerfully at her owner, before taking off somewhere else in the house. He heard the little clicking of her claws against the hardwood floor and the man’s voice farther and farther away, reminding the little dog to come for dinner soon. Noony simply trotted on.

After running through maybe the whole house and then some, Noon finally stopped and nudged her bandana with her paw. Hanzo climbed out carefully, examining his surroundings and trying with all his might to not embarrass himself any further. Once back on his feet, he ran his fingers through Noony’s fur absently and looked around.

The house was warm, for some reason impregnated with the smell of cinnamon and leather. Some boxes littered the far corner, and it was overall decorated with cacti and plaid patterns, alongside movie posters and horse figurines here and there, and pictures a bit too far for Hanzo to see them properly. Hanzo didn’t know what kind of aesthetic the man was looking for, but he certainly didn’t want to know.

He noticed he was next to a plush, light green dog bed, and as soon as he finished his examination Noony climbed on it and laid down. Hanzo pet Noon one last time, before setting off into the unknown.

First things first, he needed to call his guardians. The rain was barely more than a light drizzle, but walking back to the kingdom would take weeks--not to mention he didn’t quite remember which way it was, let alone from the ground instead of the air--, his guardians couldn’t carry him all the way back either, so making the trek back to the fairy kingdom with a broken wing was a bad idea however he looked at it. The only logical thing to do was, of course, stay in the strange house with the cute dog and the human until his wings healed or another fairy found him and showed him the way back. Hanzo sighed. Bothersome as it was, he would have to do it.

He climbed on a nearby table and made his way to the window, noticing it was, in fact, very firmly closed. He groaned, pushing all his weight against the edge of it, but it didn’t even bulge. 

“Noon! Noony, y’ here? Dinner’s ready!” 

Heavy steps drew closer and, soon, the human stood in the doorway, leaning on the frame with one hand and scanning the room for his dog. Hanzo threw himself behind the nearest object big enough to cover him, which turned out to be a pile of books. From his hideout, he saw the man walk towards Noon with a light laugh, finally wander into his line of vision, and…

‘Oh no, he’s hot!’ Hanzo ducked behind the books in an instant, not even fighting the blush rising to his cheeks. The man was--yes, incredibly tall--but also even more muscular up close. He was soft around the edges, with a carefree smile framed by a messy beard that Hanzo had no business loving so much. His eyes were a beautiful earthy brown, his skin dark and freckled, and his chocolate brown hair seemed so soft--

“Noony? Is there something you’d like to show me?” Hanzo snapped himself back to reality, hearing the loud yipping and wondering how his heartbeat could have possibly been any louder than Noon. He ducked under one of the books, just in time for the man to peek out the window. “Huh? Is it about these dragonflies?” Hanzo’s ears perked up. ‘What?’ “Man, it can’t be good to be flyin’ ‘round in this rain. Lemme just...” The man opened the window without much effort, and Udon and Soba flew in immediately. He ducked farther. No good having his guardians blow his cover. 

“Well, in you go. You can stay until the rain is over, I don’t mind, I jus’...hope you know how to get out later.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Well, whatever. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, right? Meanwhile, Noony sweetheart!” He slapped his legs twice, effectively calling Noon to his feet. He cooed at her for at least a minute, before remembering the rapidly cooling dinner and leaving to the kitchen, turning off the light.

Hanzo stumbled out of his hideout, ignoring the lingering warmth in his chest and replacing it with skepticism. Yes, the man was effectively gorgeous and kind to animals and plants alike--even insects, to Hanzo’s surprise. But how would he react to a fairy? Hanzo couldn’t be sure, and didn’t want to find out. At best he’d think he’d gone crazy, at worst? He’d heard enough horror stories from Genji to fill in his imagination. Whatever his…whatever it was, it was best to ignore it.

Once he was sure the man was far enough away, he whistled to the confused dragonflies currently flying in circles around the room. Udon and Soba flew to him swiftly and settled down next to him, leaning on his legs. Hanzo pet their heads, minding their eyes, before setting his mind to work. If he was going to hide in the gorgeous human’s house until his wings recovered, he needed to set some ground rules.

Done cuddling with his dragonflies after a while--and hearing the man head upstairs, probably to sleep--Hanzo put his plan into motion. First, he sent his guardians away with a message for Lena, just to let the kingdom know he would take a while to return, and he was safe. Alone once again, he slid down the table leg and hopped on Noon’s bed, before setting off to explore the house. Leaving the room through an open door, he found a hallway with walls nearly covered in paintings and pictures alike. In the low light, he could see some were of the man, some of him and an older man with darker skin and a scarred face, and others with a young woman with violet hair. Some pictures showed an older woman with long silver hair, next to a younger woman with the same caramel skin and similar features. Some pictures of them together with a light-skinned graying man, and some with another man that could have been a giant and an angelic-looking woman. Hanzo could immediately know they were all the gorgeous man’s family. The paintings were mostly landscapes, signed in the corner with a small bird and A. A., although some--admittedly less professional, were signed as J.M. or G.R., and one, of a reddish gorge, simply signed as “Jesse”.

He walked on, eventually finding an open door that lead to a dark dining room with a wooden table long enough for eight chairs. He climbed on it, if only to get a vantage point to see around him, and found a plate full of green grapes barely covered by a napkin, possibly forgotten during the day. He took one--small, but still at least the size of his head--and dug in gratefully. 

‘What will happen to the kingdom now?’ he asked himself. His father, King Sojiro, could manage it on his own enough for it to stand when he returned, but who would keep Jamison from bothering Lúcio’s frogs? Who would stop him and Mako from setting off to steal trinkets from humans? Who would keep Lena and Hana from racing and playing with Genji instead of working? Would Brigitte be all right taking care of Bastion and Ganymede on her own? He thought of his friends, even felt sad to think that he would be skipping his tea meetings with Satya and Mei, but he shook his head. There was nothing he could do about that, but hope that they could manage on their own.

He took another bite out of his grape and failed to keep the juice from spilling all over him. Rolling his eyes, he reached out behind him and grabbed a piece of the napkin. And Genji, oh Genji. Hanzo was outright pissed at him, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t worried. He wouldn’t disappear from the kingdom without telling at least Hana, and so far? Far as he knew, Genji had never stepped foot on this forest.

Well, as far as he knew.

He felt a pang in his chest at the thought. He knew Genji resented him for always scolding him and chasing him around to do his duties, and believed Genji often meant it when he screamed that he hated him and his life, but there was nothing Hanzo could do to help. As such, he was sure there were many details about his life that Hanzo didn’t know. Maybe this forest was more of Genji’s home than back at the Kingdom, and Hanzo would have never found out. Had Genji been more careful with his escapades, that is.

Hanzo heard footsteps approach the door, and soon someone turned on the light. He hid behind the nearby napkins in lack of a better hideout, peeking from behind to see the man rub his eyes and groan, dressed in flannel pajamas and with his hair muzzled. 

“Huh, that’s where I left ‘em. Well, they work for now” He grabbed the plate of grapes from next to Hanzo and left, turning off the light behind him. Hanzo, unable to resist it, decided to follow him. They crossed the hallway again, the fairy careful to be silent and stay out of his line of sight, and they reached the study where Noon’s bed was, sans Noon. The man sat on the chair next to it and reached out for a laptop device, plugging it in and turning it on. Within minutes, Hanzo could hear the sound of rapid typing from the bookcase he was hiding in. Noony arrived a few minutes later, shook her tail at Hanzo briefly before cuddling up to the man’s legs. He watched the man type for about an hour, managing to sneak glances of a story in the computer screen, before giving in to exhaustion and falling asleep on the bookcase.


	3. Undercover

He woke up immediately to the sound of barking directed at him. Opening his eyes, it took him a second to realize he was still at least a few feet up in the house of a human, and that falling asleep wherever the human could see him was a perfectly bad idea. He groaned, looking down at the screaming fluffball.

Noon was...there. Certainly there, Hanzo’s mind unhelpfully provided. The human wasn’t quite on sight, but at least his dog seemed to be calling for his attention. He looked out the window directly in front of him and saw bright sunlight as if the rain had never happened. The greenhouse was barely visible from where he was, but visible enough for Hanzo to see a large red and brown mass moving around in it. With no more danger on sight, Hanzo slid down the bookcase to greet Noon. The little dog launched herself at him and soon Hanzo was laughing on the floor with a very enthusiastic dog licking his face. It was fairly disgusting, yes, but Hanzo couldn’t help but play along.

A few minutes later--just until Hanzo actually got Noony’s drool in his mouth and was grossed out enough to stop her--Hanzo found himself sitting on Noony’s back and headed to the kitchen, alert to anything that might tell him of the gorgeous man’s presence. Noon led him to her food bowl in the dining room, where she started eating without a care in the world, and he followed suit with a piece of fruit Noon had saved for him from somewhere, likely shared by the human earlier.

‘I am royalty, I ate only the finest produce in my kingdom, and now I make do with dog food.’ Hanzo sighed tiredly. He needed to figure out a way to get food regularly and without being spotted by the human or relying on possibly-drooled-on fruit. 

He scratched Noon’s back while looking around the place. On the other side of a counter he found what looked like the kitchen, decorated with cactus-patterned mosaics and yellow drapes over a small window. He made his way over to it and, sure enough, found a pantry. There wasn’t much inside, other than spices and long-lasting food, but there was a package of dried fruit that Hanzo could most certainly appreciate. He climbed over to it, reaching the bag just as he heard steps nearby.

“Howdy, Noony! ‘M sorry, I’ll be right back. Just gotta get some seeds out. Y’know Jack asked me t’ plant a few roses n’ I haven’t gotten to it.” Hanzo looked around, squinting in the low light, before jumping behind a bottle of--by the smell of it--really spicy sauce. It was just big enough to cover him if he pressed his wings closer and the man didn’t look too closely, and the best place to hide in the vicinity. He whispered a quick threat to Genji just before seeing light filter in.

“Should be somewhere in here…” Hanzo heard a light jingle and metal on wood, before the sound of the man rummaging a lower shelf of the pantry. He risked a peek and oh, his hair looked even softer up close, and he could just barely see some chest hair behind the open buttons of the man’s flannel shirt before his cheeks started burning, but what kind of hat was that even? He scoffed at the gorgeous man’s nonexistent sense of fashion. ‘Such a waste.’

The human gave a short “hah!” in triumph when he finally found the seeds--to which Hanzo ran back behind his cover, and the pantry promptly closed again. He waited, maybe a few minutes, until he heard the front door close.

He pushed the pantry doors barely open, the light reflecting off something new beside him. There were a set of keys there, dusted with soil and only slightly wet with a small bullet keychain. He frowned at them, figuring the human had forgotten them, and shrugged. He lifted his hand to his lips and whistled loudly as a call. Noony trotted to the source of the noise happily and wagged her tail at him, but she wasn't the one he was calling. Soon enough--and to Hanzo’s luck, since he wasn’t sure they would hear--Udon and Soba flew in from the kitchen window. With their help, he managed to hide a few pieces of dried fruit in the dusty corner of the bookcase, alongside his small pouch of fairy dust and a small piece of cloth Noony had torn from somewhere. It wasn’t much, but that was probably the best he could get for now. Next to all of those though, hidden behind a weird onion-like plushie like the rest of his things, were the keys. He wondered how badly the man would need them, just enough to worry if he should check on him with Noony. Right on time, though, he heard the door click open. 

“Goddammit, and here I thought my breakin’ n’ enterin’ days were over. Noony! Come here, girl!” Noony yipped at Hanzo briefly, before obeying her human. Hanzo stood there in a daze for a second, before motioning at Udon to grab the keys and sliding down the bookcase. He followed the man’s loud footsteps and grumbling to the kitchen, where he was frantically searching the pantry. 

“I really am goin’ old. Noony girl, ya don’t remember where in hell I left my keys?” Noony ran around in a circle and yipped a bit, nudging the man’s foot towards the pantry. The man continued his rummaging. 

“All right, I trust ya, hon. M’ just pretty sure I’ve already turned this damn thing upside down.” Soba nudged at Hanzo’s shoulder from their hideout behind the counter. Hanzo nodded and, looking at Udon holding the keys, pointed above them. Udon swiftly left the keys on the counter and returned to Hanzo making a bit more noise than necessary. The man’s face snapped to the source and saw the keys, sitting innocently in plain sight.

“What in tarnation...Noony, didja see anythin’ weird?” Noon tilted her head curiously at the man’s confusion, making him groan. “Well I’ll be damned. Not only am I goin’ old, I’m also delirious now. Maybe I should try sleepin’ like a normal person once in a while.” He grumbled to himself. Noony yipped cheerfully and ran a few circles around him, making him smile and lean down to scratch her back.“What a good girl y’ are! even if y’ can’t see whatever house goblin left me my keys there.” 

Hanzo gasped indignantly. Him, a goblin?! How dare he! And right after he did the man a favor! The utter lack of manners this gorgeous human had was downright shameful. Couldn’t he at least have said ‘house elf’ or something a bit more dignified? He stomped away, ever careful not to let the man see him, and left for his little spot in the bookcase.

 

It took him maybe an hour of pouting and cuddling his guardians to get the annoyance out of his system, and even then he was still perpetually frowning. Not that it was much of a difference from the usual.

He peeked out of his hideout when he heard heavy steps nearing the room, and soon the man walked in with Noony behind. Noony yipped cheerfully at Hanzo, who immediately went back to hiding in case the man decided to check. After a few more steps, the fairy looked out once again to see the man rubbing his face in the middle of the room, staring tiredly at his laptop. 

“Noony dear, what’s more important? Waitin’ to get this damn author’s block out or forcin’ it out because deadlines?” Noon yipped confused, tilting her head. Just then, something started buzzing in the man’s pocket, followed by the sound of a low, melodic guitar in a fast sequence. The man pulled out his phone in a second and answered.

“Howdy, who’s this? Yeah, Joel speaking.” Hanzo tuned out the rest of the conversation, focusing on the fact that he finally had a name for the face. 

Joel.

Needless to say, he spent long enough with a single word in his mind.

 

Despite his reluctant, undeniable attraction, Hanzo could feel his headache steadily growing around the man.

Yes he was beautiful and his voice was gorgeous and he had a talent for nature, but everything else? Soon after the initial fear of being in his house subsided, Hanzo finally started wondering how Joel could ever get anything done. The man was painfully forgetful--barely three hours had passed since the call and he had already sent Udon and Soba after pens, pencils, the keys again, post-its and at some point even Noony, when he forgot to let her back in after taking her outside. Bigger things like glasses of water, food or his phone were completely up to him, and it seemed like every time he stood up from his seat at the computer he lost something. 

Secondly, of course, the man’s sense of fashion had started to grate on Hanzo’s nerves, not to mention the fact that he was very much wearing his gardening boots inside, no wonder the house was so dirty and he didn’t even want to think about the spurs. His red flannel shirt had obviously seen better times, and the ratty old hat on his head was, indeed, with pretty much no sunlight around, still on his head. 

Then of course was the general state of the house, which was definitely not clean. The layer of dust in the bookcase was extremely thick, save for a few trails made by pulling books out. The floor had quite some dirt on it from the aforementioned gardening boots, there were cobwebs in the ceiling, the windows looked like they’d never been washed…

Oh, did he have a lot of work.

Hanzo wasn’t quite sure what motivated him to start cleaning once the man had fallen asleep on the keyboard. He got a very sleepy Noony to find him a rag from somewhere and take him to the kitchen sink, and once he started he couldn’t stop. With help from his stash of carefully rationed pixie dust and his water talent, he managed to wash the looming pile of dishes, wash the floor and very carefully collect the dust in the bookcase with a few drops of water. He got Udon and Soba’s help to fly him closer to the ceiling to the spiders happily nested there and talked each of them into leaving the man’s house, afterwards collecting the abandoned webs with more water. By the time he finished, the sun had already risen and his share of pixie dust was cut at least a third. 

He fell asleep after eating a piece of dried apple, and only woke up about an hour later to Noony’s excited yipping once again. Joel groaned from his place face-first on the table and slowly opened his eyes. He focused on the sunlight streaming through the window, muttering a tired “the hell is that” directed at the light, before finally turning around. 

Hanzo moved to hide again, but definitely felt the few seconds of silence in the speed of his heartbeat. Thinking it childish to feel so nervous, he peeked out again. Joel was frowning at the room, rubbing his eyes and blinking rapidly. Noony wagged her tail happily from below and he moved to scratch her head, looking at the clean floor with clear confusion before sighing.

“Welp, I’m sure I should be worried ‘bout this, but it’s too early for this shit. Whatever goblin’s out there, hook me up after a good ol’ six cups o’ coffee please.”

Hanzo rolled his eyes, not even angry about being called a goblin anymore. Joel’s spurs jingled all the way to the door, and stopped just as he was about to get out. 

“Still, whoever and whatever y’are. Thanks pal, you’re really helpin’ a guy out.” Hanzo looked down, feeling heat rise to his cheeks.

“Or makin’ a man go crazy. Can’t believe I’m talkin’ to the air now. Noon, come help your old man out, he’s outta his mind.” The fairy prince shook his head with a laugh. He just might enjoy his time with this strange man.


	4. Compromised

Hanzo barely noticed when the one month mark passed, if only because Joel kept track of the days meticulously and with visible dread. The fairy could see a day marked in his calendar at least two weeks from then, and wondered just what it meant. Regardless, Joel certainly wasn’t looking forward to it.

Throughout the month, Hanzo had worried endlessly about Genji and his kingdom alike. He hoped his brother had already returned on his own, but knew just how unlikely that was. He knew Genji wasn’t happy being a prince--he made sure Hanzo was acutely aware of that fact--, but stuck in Joel’s house there was little more Hanzo could do than hope he was at least responsible enough to show signs of life in the kingdom, and not leave them in the dark over his well-being. Hanzo wasn’t one to talk, of course, but he really had no choice in the matter.

He yawned, throwing aside the small piece of broken flannel Noony had brought him one day, and crawled out of his makeshift bed. Yawning, he ate a piece of dried date and washed the stickiness off his hands, before grabbing his pixie dust pouch and sprinkling some on his wings.

His wing was better, but Hanzo was beginning to fear it wouldn’t ever actually restore. It was a longshot, he knew, but since wounds weren’t the most common occurrence back in his kingdom--let alone on wings, they were far too important--Hanzo really didn’t know how they healed, if at all. Seeing the still gaping hole start curling around the edges instead of healing was disheartening. At least the pain was starting to subside a bit, just enough for him to sleep comfortably again.

Finishing his bookcase routine, he turned to see the strange human just in time for him to start groaning awake, once again sleeping face-first on the table with an open document in the laptop’s screen shining over him. Hanzo rolled his eyes, but still slid down the side of the bookcase and found Noony waiting for him. Noony barked at Joel briefly, before Hanzo climbed on her and they set off to the kitchen to wait for Joel to bring her breakfast. Hanzo, meanwhile, climbed to the nearest window and met up with Udon and Soba, who reported back their news from the kingdom, and apologized for not being able to bring him pixie dust. Hanzo didn’t mind beside the obvious problem that his pixie dust supply was dangerously low, but Udon and Soba reassured him that Lena had sent someone to supply him at some point. Hanzo hoped they arrived soon--if at all.

Worry about Genji still nagging him, he dismissed his guardians and went to Noony’s side once again, scratching her back before climbing into her bandana. Noony already knew what this meant--smart dog that she was--and carefully set off to scratch at a probably asleep again Joel. The man, of course, was drooling on the table again, and it took Noony a fair amount of scratching and whining to get him back to the land of the living. Joel wobbled over to the kitchen and cooked himself breakfast, leaving a small piece of bacon next to Noon’s dog food and dropping himself heavily on a chair to eat. Once they were finished, Joel grabbed his gardening equipment and let Noony out to do as she wished.   
Noony, the ever responsible dog, didn’t go too far. She followed Joel to the greenhouse and discreetly hid behind a pot to let Hanzo out, before yapping and leaving to run around the house happily. Hanzo smiled at her, still marvelling at the fact that he had only communicated with the cutest dog ever--and his guardians--for over a month. His smile soon dropped, though, when his worries overpowered his happiness once again. He made his way to the back of the greenhouse to a small pond Joel had installed for an attempt to plant rice--rice that was only alive by the fairy prince’s will and even still barely, if Hanzo might add. Joel was the best gardener he’d ever met even considering many garden-talent fairies, but rice definitely wasn’t meant to be planted on a greenhouse. Hanzo was only happy he had listened to Bastion, Brigitte’s little rock golem and the sole best gardener he knew, when they had explained their talent-free gardening secrets, goodness knew Hanzo needed them to keep Joel’s rice alive.

The rice, though, wasn’t Hanzo’s concern just then. He walked over to the rice pond and kneeled at the edge of the water, before dragging his hand over it and watching the ripples distort his reflection. Within seconds, he wasn’t seeing himself on the water, but Genji.

He hadn’t used his divination for a long time, but now it was necessary to reassure Hanzo that no harm would come to his brother after this whole ordeal. Now, Hanzo needed to see the very image in front of him every day to calm his nerves. 

It was Genji, smiling, laughing, with his back blurred and a bright light glowing in front of him that obscured a second person. Genji looked at them, held their hand, leaned on their shoulder, but still the mysterious person was not visible. Hanzo dreaded to accept what the vision implied, but at least was reassured by the fact that his brother was fine and possibly happier than back at the kingdom. It filled him with a bittersweet feeling, but he smiled at the image of his brother nonetheless. 

“Oi Mako, I found ‘im! Thought you’d be harder t’ find, mate!” Oh no, Hanzo knew that voice. He turned around and dispelled the vision immediately, earning a disappointed whine from the scrawny tinker fairy, and fixed Jamison with his best frown. Jamison’s crooked smile dropped even further, and Mako waved silently from behind. Hanzo side-eyed Joel from behind the tomato plants, who noticed Noony barking outside and made his way to her, leaving Hanzo alone with the junkers.

“Jamison, Mako. What brings you here?” Hanzo deduced they were probably the ones Lena had sent, but something in his mind refused to accept they were responsible enough for this. Mako, maybe, but certainly not Jamison.

“Pixie dust.” Mako said simply, before thrusting a heavy pouch of pixie dust into his hands. Probably one from Mako’s own supply, judging by the size.

“We didn’t know if you’d wanna stay fer some reason, but we aimed high. Wouln’t do t’ give ya one of Lena’s rations and have ya stay longer, eh mate?” Hanzo looked between them while tying it to his belt, looking almost sheepish for doubting them, and bowed deeply.

“I appreciate this greatly. I will make sure to repay you back in the kingdom.” Mako waved it off, while Jamison gave a high-pitched laugh.

“Aw, don’t ya worry about that! Not like we went outta our way or anything, right?” Mako glared silently, making Jamison roll his eyes. Hanzo squinted.

“Jamison, what exactly does that--”

“Huh? What in the…” Hanzo heard a drawled, deep voice behind them, and froze. He didn’t have enough time to look at Joel before he felt Jamison grab his robe, and Mako drag both of them into a bush. Mako ran through the branches desperately to the hole in the glass, Hanzo tumbling behind them and feeling the wound in his wing grow bigger. Only a few inches away, nearly in a clearing, Hanzo felt a stray branch catching his clothes and Jamison’s hand losing its grip. The two kept running, Jamison only yelling a “We’ll be back fer ya, mate!” before they both disappeared through the glass and into the forest. 

Hanzo untangled himself from the branches and fell to his knees in a second. He knew he had multiple scrapes across his face, and his clothes were probably ripped in many places for being mostly dragged by the junkers. Thankfully, he felt the pixie dust pouch still heavy on his belt. He dragged himself out of the bush, only to be assaulted by a white fluffball.

“Noony? Did you--oh.” A shadow covered Hanzo and Noon both, and Hanzo looked up to see Joel, hands covered in dirt and a confused expression in his face, looking straight at Hanzo for the first time. “Hey there, buddy. I don’t reckon we’ve met.” 

Hanzo frowned and sagged with resignation, recognizing a hopeless situation when he saw one. He managed to sit on his knees somewhat gracefully and nodded at the man as a greeting. He turned to a very stressed Noony after a second, petting her snout to try and reassure her.

The man cleared his throat awkwardly. “So...I take you’re the guy who’s been helpin’ me out all this time, huh?” Joel kneeled beside them, uncaring of his jeans--to which Hanzo grimaced--and ran his hand through Noon’s fur, shooting a warm--gorgeous--smile at him. Hanzo relaxed his stance a bit and nodded, looking away.

“Well, thank ya kindly. M’ not sure why you’d wanna help little ol’ me, but it’s greatly appreciated.” The fairy looked at him in wonder, before nodding once again. He smiled a bit, but he was sure Joel couldn’t see it. “Now, you’ve been a mighty fine help, but I’m sure yer gonna want to go back to yer friends now, right? Those two who were runnin’ away? I wouldn’t mind havin’ you around, but...well, y’know, whatever y’ like.” Hanzo was startled by how calm this man was going about finding fairies in his greenhouse, but he realized it was only fitting. Of course, the man who treated Noon like a daughter and provided shelter to two lost dragonflies in the rain would be kind to an unknown creature. 

He remembered the initial question and looked at the hole in the glass, wondering if he really should follow. He had Joel’s support now, which meant supplies and hopefully a safe trip back, but something was holding him back in his mind. He thought of returning to the kingdom, tending to it while looking for Genji from afar, seeing his friends again, possibly getting proper treatment for his wing…

Then again, all that also meant not seeing this wonderful, fascinating human ever again.

He shook his head, only realizing he was doing it after a second. Maybe out of curiosity, maybe something else, but Hanzo didn’t really want to leave the gardener behind. 

Noony licked his side. Or the dog. The dog would be sorely missed if he went back to the kingdom. 

Joel huffed an astonished laugh and mumbled to himself for a second, before stretching out a finger at Hanzo. Hanzo shook it with very clear confusion in his face. 

“Well, I don’t know what’s goin’ through that pretty head o’ yours” Hanzo suddenly couldn’t look the man in the eye. “But I’ll be glad to have ya for a while longer. M’ sure Noony will too!” Noon yipped at them cheerfully and ran a few circles, all the while wagging her tail. Both Hanzo and Joel laughed at her antics.

Hanzo knew he had missed what was probably his only opportunity to go back to the kingdom in a long while, but he couldn’t find it in his heart to care.


	5. Pairwork

And so, Hanzo found himself sitting on Joel’s shoulder while staring right into the void, the distant panic that he really shouldn’t be talking to a human suddenly very real. Noony seemed to see the little cloud of despair over him and yipped from below. Hanzo smiled. Joel opened the door to his house and kicked his boots off, making Hanzo sigh in relief.

“So I'm not sure if you can talk since, well, y’ haven’t really said a word so far. Can ya?” Hanzo huffed. Oh, this would be embarrassing.

“I can, you foolish human. But I doubt you will understand me.” Joel frowned a bit. Before turning around to look at Hanzo. Noticing the awkwardly short distance, he turned back to the hallway. 

“Ohhhhkay? Bell noises. Great. I'm guessin’ that was you.” Hanzo punched the man’s neck when he started to laugh, only making him laugh more. Hanzo joined in against his will. 

“Righty, so lemme just leave ya in my desk and I’ll get you somethin’ to write--or, well, draw with. I don’t know, I’ve never met anyone like ya.” Hanzo rolled his eyes but nodded, even if Joel couldn’t see him. Joel lifted his hand for Hanzo to stand on it, and soon lowered him to the desk beside the laptop. Noony sat beside the chair and stared at Hanzo happily, to which he smiled back.

Joel started muttering to himself and ran off somewhere, probably the kitchen. Hanzo turned the whole situation in his mind again, crossing his arms and glancing around the room. So, he was a flightless fairy stuck in a human’s house, a human that he somehow trusted against probably every teaching in the fairy kingdom. Hanzo sighed, wondering how he had managed to become even more reckless than his brother.

He suddenly remembered he didn’t actually know what his brother was doing, or, key part, with whom. Something inside Hanzo told him Genji had probably befriended something even worse than a human, and the rest of him accepted the fact with resignation.

Joel came back just as that train of thought disappeared, holding a toothpick and scissors. Hanzo took a step backwards, making Joel lift his hands frantically. 

“No no, ’s not for you, I swear! Here, just hang onto this real quick…” He left the toothpick a few inches in front of Hanzo and kneeled on the floor beside Noony, before quickly snipping a bit of her hair away. Noon didn’t even notice and kept wagging her tail at Hanzo. Hanzo shook his head at her.

“Okay, ’m gonna leave these on the floor if they make ya that nervous. Mind handing the white bottle over, please?” Hanzo turned around and saw a white and red bottle, just about his size, right behind him. He lifted an eyebrow at Joel.

“W-what, too big? Sorry pal, lemme just--” Hanzo rolled his eyes and walked over to it. Grabbing a bit of pixie dust from his pouch, he sprinkled it on the bottle and watched it lose weight, before dragging it over to the dumbfounded man.

“Huh. That’s plenty useful. Thanks, I'm nearly finished here.” The man handed Noony’s hair to Hanzo and set to work coating the tip of the toothpick with glue, before cutting a bit of thread with his teeth and setting it beside the glue. He took back the hair and stuck it around the toothpick, securing everything with the thread. Hanzo lifted his eyebrows at the small paintbrush the man had made in little over a minute and bowed his head in thanks. Joel instructed him to leave it be for a few minutes and left the room, coming back with some pieces of string cheese and a small black bottle of ink. Hanzo read the warning to not eat while using the ink, and Joel shrugged helplessly at his criticizing stare.

Minutes passed while Joel and Hanzo finished the cheese, before the fairy dipped the tip of the makeshift brush on the ink and tested it on the page of a notebook provided by Joel. He nodded at the fine black line, before staring pointedly at the man. Joel nodded with a smile.

“So, introductions are in order, right? I'm Jesse McCree, at yer service.” The man even finished with a tip of his hat, but Hanzo only frowned. “What, what’s wrong?” Hanzo only wrote in slightly shaky letters “Joel”. The man nodded in understanding.

“I’m guessin’ you overheard all those phone calls, right?” Hanzo nodded. “Yeah, Joel is my pseudonym. Name I use t’ publish stuff when I write. Real name’s Jesse though.” Hanzo frowned a bit more, before nodding when he remembered that one painting in the hallway signed “Jesse”. This name fit him even better than Joel.

“Soooo, how ‘bout you? What’s yer name?” Hanzo nodded and wrote it down, finishing with a small bow as a greeting. Jesse whistled. 

“Hanzo? Am I sayin’ it right?” His pronunciation was miraculously not too far off. So the fairy prince nodded with a shrug. Jesse grinned. “Pretty name fer a pretty face indeed!” Hanzo desperately tried not to look too shaken by the man’s words. “Oh right, I’ve been meanin’ to ask, and I’m sorry if I’m bein’ rude, but what are ya exactly? I figured pixie from the wings and the little dust ‘n everything, but one can’t quite be sure.” Hanzo nodded, a bit surprised at the man’s knowledge. Jesse seemed to read his mind and smirked.

“You gotta know yer stuff to be a good writer. I’m sure my search history could land me in jail but it’s a sacrifice I'm willin’ to make.” Hanzo laughed a bit, not noticing the man staring in shocked silence, before his face went back to the usual stoic one. Hanzo lifted his brush to write again, before the jingling of keys outside and the sound of a door slamming shook them out of their reverie.

Jesse looked at him helplessly, gaze darting around the room and even glancing at his hat, before he not-so-gently urged Hanzo to his hand and pretty much stuffed him into his serape.  
Hanzo, once again and not for the last time, mentally berated Genji for making his life so weird.

He was first hit with a wave of very comforting heat like the feeling of crawling into bed at night, before the smell of dirt, dog, smoke and sweat hit him and he simply grimaced to himself. After a few seconds, though, he refused to admit he didn’t dislike it too much. The cloth was softer than he imagined and he could feel the rise and fall of Jesse’s chest every other second, nearly drowning his confusion at being shoved inside a piece of cloth for the second time in less than a day. He cradled himself in it like the time he hid in Noon’s bandana and focused on hearing as much as he could.

“Jesse! ¿Dónde estás, mocoso?” A rough voice called out from the hallway, making Hanzo instantly regret never learning Spanish and worry over the stranger’s intentions. He heard a mumbled “sorry Han” before feeling Jesse walk outside the room. Jesse saw one rather annoyed Gabriel Reyes hanging an awkward Jack Morrison’s coat on a nearby hanger, both of them examining Hanzo’s handiwork and wondering when was the last time Jesse’s house was remotely clean.

“Pa! N’ Jack too! Howdy both, what are y’all doin’ here?” Jack laughed out a greeting while Gabe rolled his eyes. 

“Welcoming as always, Jesse. Jack’s here for the goods, I’m here to judge you.” Jesse laughed, rattling Hanzo a bit.

“Well, when aren’t ya. Come on, let’s get straight to business--” 

“Hey, want us off your hair so quickly? Here I was, wanting to spend some time embarrassing you. Olivia wanted to be here too but you know how it goes, not every day is her boss away to let her hack as she pleases.” Hanzo could feel Jesse growing more nervous by the second, but couldn’t do much to help. Jesse stammered, while Jack and Gabe set about exploring his house and left the room. Jesse turned to leave Hanzo back in the desk, when Gabe popped his head back in the room.

“Oh yeah, we’ll be staying the night. Any couch to crash on or should we take the guest room?” Jesse laughed loudly over Gabe’s smirk.

“Oh, I’m very sorry indeed, pa. All my couches are right outta service right now. Noony’s fault, y’see. You’ll have to sleep in the double bed.” Jesse winked at him, Gabe winking back. He expected the taller man to leave, but Gabriel walked forward to pat his shoulder and pull him in for a hug that thankfully didn’t crush Hanzo completely. Jesse pat his serape in apology, to Gabe looking like he was adjusting it.

“Jack’s already settling down, I expected as much.” He kept his hand on Jesse’s shoulder for a second longer. “But let’s stop fooling around. How are you, mijo? What have you been up to?” Jesse shrugged a bit.

“Oh, y’know. Nothin’ illegal.” Jesse said, Gabe lifting an eyebrow at the old joke between the two.

“Yeah sure, I bet.”

“What, don’t believe me? Last illegal thing I did was steal that cactus from the desert three years ago fer chrissake.” Hanzo wondered about multiple things in that sentence, ranging from why stealing a cactus would be illegal to why Jesse would be stealing a cactus in the first place. He made a point to ask the weird human later.

“And how did that turn out again?” Gabe said between laughs. Jesse grimaced, images of an overwatered cactus flashing through his mind.

“So how’s that crush o’ yours on the local police chief goin’ again, pa?” It was Gabe’s turn to glare at Jesse’s innocent smile.

“That’s a low punch and you know it, mocoso. Shut up, he might hear you.” By the darkened skin in Gabriel’s face, it was still going pretty strong. Jesse simply laughed and slapped his back, guiding them out of the room and panicking internally over the fairy still very much inside his serape. Hanzo sighed to himself and got comfortable in the cloth. It would be a long day.

 

To Jesse’s immense relief, as soon as their little father-son moment ended Jack appeared in the stairs, thus directing all of Gabe’s attention away from every piece of evidence of Hanzo’s existence. Well, save for the fairy himself. Jesse had to do something about him soon. 

With that they left the house for the greenhouse, the grassy smell of sunflowers and nectar hitting them like a warm wall of summer. Jesse adjusted his serape once again, getting an annoyed wiggle as a response. Jack immediately set to work, admiring Jesse’s crops and collecting the best ones as per Jesse’s request, the cowboy sheepishly explaining that he had hurt his knee earlier playing with Noony, y’see, so he really really couldn’t lean down and help him pick tomatoes, but why didn’t Gabe help? He seemed busy staring at tomatoes near Jack’s backside.

Jesse, of course, received a smack in the back of his head in return, but he didn’t mind. With Jack and Gabe busy, he could surely turn around for a second and--

“Mocoso! I thought you said your knee hurt!” Gabe called from behind, perceptive as ever. Jesse sighed and stood up hesitantly. He patted his serape again, before an idea struck and he mimicked taking something from the plant and cradling it to his chest, before standing up with an over-exaggerated groan.

“N’ that it is, Pa. Sorry, There was a beetle in one of my plants that shouldn’t be here. Now, if you two would excuse me for just a second…” Jesse didn’t even let them answer before he was bolting out of the greenhouse. He risked a look back to see they had both turned back to the plants and were no longer watching, so he walked silently a bit into the forest and hid behind a tree, before softly tugging at his serape.

“All clear Han, you can come out.” Hanzo didn’t move. Instead, a very out of place stream of mist reached a nearby ray of sunlight, making a rainbow appear right in front of Jesse. The cowboy rolled his eyes so hard Hanzo nearly fell off the serape. “Don’t sass me, pumpkin. That ain’t what I meant and you know it.” He said between laughs. By the wiggling in his serape and the faint bell noises, Hanzo was laughing too.

After a second--and right after the wiggling stopped--Hanzo appeared from below his neck with his usual stoic expression, to Jesse’s disappointment. He tried to climb to Jesse’s shoulder, before a hand was offered to him and Jesse lifted him to eye level about a foot away from his face. To Hanzo it still felt a bit too close.

“All right, so, how didja do in there? Hope it didn’t smell too bad.” Hanzo fought back a blush and shook his head, before shooting a thumbs-up at Jesse. The cowboy nodded, visibly relieved.

“Good to know, partner! Now, I reckon leaving ya in the forest ain’t a fine idea, so at least until I get to the house and leave you in your bookshelf, mind hanging out in my serape a bit longer? I don’t know, maybe the hat could--” Hanzo’s deadpan expression shut Jesse up immediately. Hanzo simply pointed at the bright red serape and, after Jesse moved his hand closer, crawled inside as if it was second nature. Oh, Hanzo wished he wasn’t so used to hiding in pieces of cloth.


	6. Partners

When Jesse woke up, Hanzo was still there.

The cowboy pinched himself, and still the fairy sleeping in front of him--and looking quite gorgeous in the process--refused to disappear. Of course, if Hanzo wasn’t a dream, neither were Gabe and Jack currently sleeping in his guest bedroom. He groaned to himself, before rolling to face Hanzo fully. His inky hair was spilling over his shoulder, swirly light blue tattoo barely visible, body covered by a small piece of flannel cloth Jesse was sure he’d seen before. His bed was a small brown cushion he’d found in a hurry the night before, and his pajamas were basically just his normal pants. Jesse would have to find a way to get him some clothes eventually.

He smiled to himself, amused. How could he simply accept the fact that he would be living with an honest-to-god fairy for who knows how long? Jesse laughed softly. He’d seen stranger things in his life. 

He stared at Hanzo for five, ten, maybe twenty minutes, before a small puffball effectively crushed his stomach happily and he yelped in pain. Noony wagged her tail at him and pawed at his chest, lying down on his abused stomach after he started scratching her head absently. In a second, Hanzo was also in his field of view.

“Well howdy there, partner. Don’t suppose I woke you up with my screamin’?” Jesse tipped an imaginary hat at him, suddenly very aware of his not-so-clean morning self. Hanzo rolled his eyes and turned to pet Noony, his feet sinking into the duvet over McCree’s chest. Jesse managed almost ten seconds of being still before going cross-eyed and finally growing restless. “All right, everyone outta the bed. This cowboy’s got stuff to do and dogs to feed.” Hanzo barely had enough time to climb on top of Noony before she bolted off the bed and started running in circles. The fairy, once again, regretted his decisions leading to that point. 

As amusing as the green tinge Hanzo’s skin had taken after Noony’s spinning, Jesse really had stuff to do. He changed quickly, grateful Hanzo was still playing with Noony at the other side of the bed. Once he was done, Hanzo steered Noony to his feet and tugged on Jesse’s pants. 

“What, partner? You wanna stay here or with Noony? I can’t quite imagine my serape bein’ that comfortable.” Hanzo shrugged, looking at anyone but Jesse, before sighing and pointing at the cowboy’s neck. Jesse scooped him up and into the bright red cloth with only a laugh, still managing another blow at Hanzo’s rapidly decaying pride.

As soon as Jesse made his way downstairs, a sour and rather spicy smell reached his nose. He noticed the amount of sunlight streaming from a nearby window and grimaced. So much for impressing Gabe with his adulting skills. 

“Ey, Jesse! Ya te oí, baja a desayunar!” Gabe’s yell came from the kitchen. Jesse opened the door to the dining room, seeing Jack already sitting on the table with a plate of chilaquiles and Gabe bringing another one from the kitchen. “Since I am the most thoughtful father in the whole world--” both Jesse and Jack tried to hide snickers and failed “--I thought I’d be nice this time and cook you a proper breakfast. Whatever you get around here sure as hell can’t be called food.” Jesse rolled his eyes, only barely managing to hide his smile. Something swelled up in his chest, but he refused to acknowledge it and sat down to eat. The chilaquiles, toned down spice for Jack’s sake and all, brought a reluctant smile to Jesse’s face.

“So, how was yer night? Sorry my little girl had to ruin the couches, you know how she is.” Jesse scratched her back as an apology as soon as he heard her whine from below the table. Gabe mouthed a quick “cállate escuincle” from behind Jack, before sitting down beside him with his best poker face.

“It was no problem, Jesse. Gabe and I have had worse.” The old war vet said with a smile. Jesse fought back a grin that Gabe possibly noticed, judging by the glare he shot his way. They finished their breakfast with light chatter, mostly jabs at Gabe or at Jack’s low spice tolerance. Jesse nearly forgot there was a fairy to hide and a whole room of evidence to avoid, only remembering at the last second when Jack had stayed to wash the dishes with Noon and Gabe had dragged Jesse to his study. 

“All right, no more avoiding the subject. How’s the novel coming along, mijo?” He sat down in the ugly-patterned loveseat at a side of the room, leaving Jesse to sit in his desk chair. Jesse tried his best to hide the tiny brush and the scribbling with his frame and smiled nervously, coming off more as a grimace.

“Oh, y’know, it’s...coming.” Gabe shot him an unimpressed look and tilted his head at the calendar behind Jesse.

“I noticed your first deadline is in two weeks. Never mind the real one, what about that?” Jesse looked away, hugging himself.

“I’m not too bad as far as word counts go, pa, I’m just not feelin’ it.” He said, tugging at his serape before remembering the fairy and leaving it alone. He grabbed one edge of it instead and fidgeted with it. Gabe tilted his head, and Jesse kept going. “I mean I like the story, I like whatever I have planned for it, but as soon as I put it down on a doc it’s just...not good enough.” Gabe nodded a bit.

“You told me once it helped when you took a step back or have someone else read it. Have you tried that?” Gabe asked calmly. Jesse let out a humorless laugh.

“Pa, yer the first person I talk with in over three months, and I’m two weeks away from the first deadline. I’m not sure those two will do any good at this point.” Jesse knew he was being childish by refusing Gabe’s honest advice, but he couldn’t quite stop it. Gabe rolled his eyes.

“Oh, this brings me back, and not in a good way.” Gabe stood up and set a hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “Listen, mijo. I know you don’t like to show people your work in progress, but you can trust us with it. Jack, Liv, Ana, Fareeha and I. Not Reinhardt, you know he’s biased and will sing praises regardless.” Jesse laughed a bit, staring at the piece of cloth between his hands. “And if you’re still not convinced, just take a break from it. You have two weeks and…” He waved his hand vaguely, asking for a number.

“Ten thousand words left.” Jesse finished, lifting his face to look at Gabe. The older man considered the number for a second, before shrugging.

“I’ve seen you churn out that much in a single day. Take a week for yourself, step away from it. Plant something, knit, what the hell, make clothes for Noon, I don’t care. We both know as soon as you come back with fresh eyes, it’s all gonna make sense. And if it doesn’t, well, maybe you’ll know how to fix it.” Jesse grouched a bit, but nodded at Gabe. He sighed and let go of the tip of his serape, looking up to see Gabe staring at something behind him. 

“Well, I see you have your own share of weird hobbies already. Tiny cryptic calligraphy?” Jesse’s eyes widened, immediately throwing himself over Hanzo’s handiwork and nearly crushing the fairy in the process. He heard a few bells but ignored them for secrecy’s sake. 

“S’ just a new strategy I’m trying out! Y’know, actin’ out the story? Stuff to get my mind runnin’?” Jesse stammered with a nervous laugh. Gabe was unimpressed, but left it at that. 

“Yeah well, you’ve had worse hobbies than barbie-sized calligraphy.” Jesse’s eyes widened with an idea, while Hanzo frowned at the strange term. “Whatever gets you in writing mood, I guess.” Gabe went back to the couch in silence, rolling his head to look at Jack through the kitchen door. His gaze softened, same as Jesse’s.

“You plannin’ to tell him anytime soon?” Jesse said softly. Gabe looked at him from the corner of his eye, before shaking his head.

“We’re old friends, Jesse, it’s risky. I could be ruining a decades-long friendship--”

“For a decades-long crush. That we both know it’s plenty more than a crush by now.” Jesse finished. Gabe frowned without looking away from Jack. “C’mon pa, you know Jack wouldn’t hold it against ya if you told him. You wouldn’t be ruinin’ anything, and there’s always the chance of him fancyin’ you back! A very big chance.” He muttered the last part, drawing a laugh from Gabe. The older man sighed and grinned a bit.

“I almost miss when it was me giving relationship advice, mijo.” Jesse laughed but didn’t answer, trying to avoid the inevitable reminiscing over his multiple past exes. He didn’t want Hanzo hearing that just yet--or ever, if possible.

Jack soon finished doing the dishes and sat down next to Gabe, oblivious to the subject they had been talking about. To Jesse’s relief, only an hour of chatting later both men were on their way back to civilization. He made his way to his desk the second he closed his front door and Hanzo crawled out of the serape looking sharp as ever, before a yawn betrayed him. Jesse tried his best not to laugh.

“Sorry ‘bout that, Gabe loves comin’ here whenever he pleases. You know how it goes.” Hanzo frowned at him, but didn’t answer anything. He took some old water from a nearby glass and washed the dried ink off the tiny brush, hurling the water at the trash can for lack of a nearby sink, and finally dipped it back in the ink and set to work. Soon, the word ‘novel’ glared at Jesse from the paper. He winced. “Boy, you sure know where to hit a man where it hurts.”

Hanzo frowned at him and rolled his eyes, before pointing at the calendar on the wall. Jesse laughed a bit. “Well, that’s a bit easier. I gotta write a few more thousand words in two weeks for my first deadline. A personal one, thankfully” He rubbed his neck before turning back to the calendar “The real one though, that’s what I’m worried about. Still plenty of time left, eight months should be enough, but...still.” Jesse’s smile turned wistful. Hanzo turned back to his paper and wrote quickly. ‘What’s wrong?’

Jesse turned his smile to Hanzo, a bit more genuine. “Aw, worrying about little ol’ me?” Hanzo kept frowning. “All right, all right. I’m just stressed. Writin’ a novel ain’t easy, you know? And, I don’t know, I’m just blocked. Might as well listen to my pa and hope I don’t just end up wastin’ another week.” Hanzo sighed, moving to write again. ‘Help?’ he pointed to himself, then at Jesse. The cowboy was positively grinning now.

“Heh, thank ya kindly, partner. But I wouldn’t want to bore ya with my rants over the plot and whatnot.” Hanzo crossed his arms and glared. Jesse didn’t last a second. “All right! Don’t say I didn’t warn ya! I really rant a lot and not even Noony can stay awake through it.” Noony yipped from somewhere else and Jesse laughed, before smiling warmly at Hanzo, light brown eyes shining. Hanzo waved it off, suddenly needing to look away.

 

Hanzo woke up at midnight, his flannel bed staying in Jesse’s bedside table. He looked around, trying to figure out why he was awake, before he heard it again. A thud, coming from the window. He stood up, walked to the edge of the table nearest to Jesse, and took a running start to jump at the window. He climbed the curtains easily, slipped behind them and stood safely beside the glass. There, his guardians stared back. They bowed awkwardly, before flying at the greenhouse. Hanzo nodded to himself and made his way downstairs, managing to open the studio window a bit and climb out of the house. He ran to the greenhouse, making his way to the back and using the hole in the glass to get inside. His guardians were already there, alongside two familiar figures.

“Hanzo! We thought you were done for, mate! Sorry about leaving ya behind, you know how it goes!” Mako slapped the back of Jamison’s head lightly “All right, we shouldn’t have left ya! Sorry, o great prince and whatnot.” The thin tinker fairy rolled his eyes. Mako grumbled a “good enough”, before pointing at the glass hole. Hanzo lost his train of thought.

“You...came back for me?” Jamison let out his strange laugh, but nodded enthusiastically. 

“‘Course we did, mate! That human guy seemed friendly enough, but we’re sure you’re desperate to get back to the good ol’ kingdom, am I right?” Hanzo opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He looked at his feet, mouth closing slowly, and thought. He had to go back to his kingdom. He had responsibilities, so much work to do that he had left behind in favor of--

He thought of warm smiles and light brown eyes. They’d only just started to talk to each other, how could he just...leave?

He felt a slap to his back so strong that he stumbled a bit, he looked up to see Mako’s distinctively smiling eyes. He thrust something to his hands, not letting Hanzo refuse it. A huge pouch, nearly twice as big as the one from the day before.

“What...Mako?” Mako lifted a hand, stepping back behind Jamison. 

“Well, not to say we eavesdropped on you and that cowboy of yours, but we kinda did. Ya seemed pretty happy hanging out with him and the puffball.” Jamison shrugged. “And you need a vacation. No offense, but yer stressin’ over every little thing stresses us out. Ya really need to take that stick outta yer--”

“Jamie.”

“All right! We’re just sayin’. Take a break, prince. Ya need it.” Hanzo frowned, still holding onto the bag.

“But...my duties, and Genji! Who will attend to them while I’m gone?” Hanzo looked at Mako, before hearing Jamison’s amused snort.

“What, those? You gotta trust yer minions, boss! Satya and Mei are doing a fine job managin’ everyone, and Lena’s been leadin’ the charge to find Genji herself! Good too, that lass needed somethin’ to do with herself.” He muttered the last part. Hanzo would have laughed, but he just frowned at the floor. He felt a big hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Mako again.

“Rest. It’s all under control.” 

When Mako said more than two words, it was impossible not to trust him on it.


	7. Scout

Jamison and Mako never asked if he wanted to leave again. They came back after week and a half with more pixie dust for Hanzo’s already overflowing stash, alongside some clothes and some honeycomb--Hanzo enjoyed the so-called “cowboy food”, but he needed honey from Bastion’s bee friends once in a while. They gave him a quick report on the status of the kingdom, before leaving as if their prince staying with a human was a normal occurrence. 

The first deadline grew closer, and the two weeks remaining quickly dwindled into two days, time flying while Jesse’s stress levels and caffeine intake only grew. The first week Jesse took the excuse immediately and forgot about the novel for inspiration’s sake. He gardened, he sketched, he did calligraphy, he learned how to sew to make clothes for Hanzo--a disastrous fail, if only because he insisted on making him exclusively cowboy clothing. Hanzo still wore it all “begrudgingly”.--He tried just about every hobbie he had, and only stopped when both Hanzo and Noony were tired of flannel shirts and calligraphy everywhere. It was only when Jesse put an old video of a happy man with big hair and tried to paint when something hit.

Hanzo sat on his shoulder, nearly dozing with the sway of his arm while he painted. He made a blue sky, then made it pink, then added mountains and trees and islands and--

“Han. Han. I need ya to rubber duck fer a second.” Hanzo blinked awake and frowned. He needed him to what? He poked his neck once as an answer, quick code for yes. It warmed him inside a bit to think that they’d found ways to understand each other, language barrier and all. Still, Hanzo often went with the flow with whatever strange terms or idioms the cowboy would say.

“All right, so, this lonely samurai, yes?” Hanzo poked his neck again, Jesse kept going with a frantic tone. “Okay okay, so, the lonely samurai had to wander the world in penance for killing his brother, but then his brother is still alive.” another poke. Hanzo didn’t know where he was going with repeating the already planned plot. “And the brother out of nowhere comes recruit the samurai for a world-saving militia thing. But I wanted to throw in some romance and brotherly bonding to help the lonely samurai realize he’s not so lonely anymore, so what about this.” He does another detail to a tree near the front of the painting. “His brother’s best friend is a lonely cowboy and--don’t look at me like that, I can tell yer judgin’ me--but get this, the cowboy’s met the samurai before. They’d had an epic adventure together once, right…” He tapped his brush against the canvas one last time, adding highlight to the pine trees over a small dirt trail. Suddenly the whole painting made sense to Hanzo, and Jesse laughed a bit at the fairy’s impressed bell chimes. “--here. I wanted a good ol’ wild west adventure, but might as well get outta my comfort zone.” 

Jesse signed, a quick white “Jesse” at the edge of the small canvas. “A winter adventure. Both of them, alone and plagued with the ghosts of their pasts, seeking distraction in a mercenary job right ‘round New Year’s Eve. An old abandoned warehouse in a canadian forest, dawn reflectin’ on the samurai’s arrows and lightin’ up his eyes as he kneels beside the lake, the cowboy followin’ his every breath with his eyes...and only seein’ him again who knows how long later the cowboy knows he’s too far gone.” Hanzo imagined it, the samurai kneeling beside the dirt trail, beyond the bushes and on the shore, the cowboy gazing at him with lovestruck eyes.

It was terribly cheesy, but it was Jesse’s style all right.

He said so, sure Jesse could pick out his tone in the bell chimes--sure enough, Jesse laughed at it--and he poked Jesse’s neck again. Jesse resisted bouncing happily and grabbed his painting, all but running back inside the house. Noony followed close behind, yipping and hopping as happily as her owner.

Jesse wrote four thousand words that night, at least up to when Hanzo fell asleep on his spot in the crook of Jesse’s elbow. He stayed there to spell check, he insisted, but he didn’t correct a single thing in his time watching Jesse write.

The deadline came, and Jesse was one day ahead. He texted Gabe a quick picture of his painting, followed by an “I should listen 2 u more”. Hanzo had possibly never felt so proud of someone in his life--he jabbed at Genji mentally, but missed the answer that would always follow.

Stress over the deadline gone and forgotten, Hanzo dedicated himself full time to his original cause. Jamie had said the kingdom was looking for his brother, but he couldn’t simply rest while Genji was out there. Every day at dawn he left with his guardians to the forest, sometimes taking Noon along, but he could never go too far. Every day they’d come back to breakfast with Jesse, and Jesse would ask where they were. Hanzo couldn’t quite answer him yet.

He cut a piece of watermelon with his doll cutlery--duller than life, but they worked--and brought it to his mouth, sparing a quick glance at Jesse. Jesse caught him, and he looked away immediately. 

“All right partner, I know you want me to get off your back on this, but I’m worried. For you, your dragonflies and Noony. So imma ask one last time, because yer my friend and I worry about ya. Why do you go to the forest every morning?” Hanzo frowned guiltily. In truth, he had no valid reason for keeping this from Jesse. Anxiety, yes, but what was new. Hanzo knew his fears were unfounded but it didn’t stop him from hesitating.

Jesse sighed. “I figured. You can trust me, Han. You know that?” Hanzo scrunched up his face and crossed his arms, but ultimately nodded. He pointed at the smartphone near Jesse’s hand, and within seconds he was already typing.

‘I’m looking for my brother.’ he typed. Jesse turned the phone around to look at it, frowning and turning it back to Hanzo. 

“What happened to him?”  
‘He ran away.’ When Jesse looked at the new phrase, something in his face shifted. His expression got softer, and his eyes hid in the shadow of his hair.

“Why?”

‘He’ Hanzo stopped typing, before erasing the two letters. ‘I pushed him too hard’. Jesse simply tilted his head in response. Hanzo took a calming breath, and kept typing. ‘In short, there is a fairy kingdom where Genji and I are the heirs.’ Jesse was silent, Hanzo went on. ‘We have responsibilities, but Genji would have none of it. I scolded him a lot, and he finally snapped.’ 

He turned the phone around in silence, and waited for a reaction. None. He looked up, to see Jesse’s sympathetic smile.

“Ya really care about your brother a lot, don’t ya?” Hanzo frowned. ‘Sarcasm?’ he typed quickly. Jesse laughed soberly.

“Nah, I mean it. I can see ya really regret pushin’ him, and that you miss him more than you think.” Something in Hanzo’s face made Jesse laugh a bit. “It’s all in yer eyes, Han. Ya seem really sad right now, and I can hear ya blamin’ yourself.”

‘Well, that was not a lie.’ Hanzo thought. A tap to his shoulder brought him back. 

“Come on, don’t do that. You were bein’ responsible and thinkin’ of yer kingdom, it’s not yer fault.” Hanzo looked away. Another tap, softer than the first.

“All right, tell ya what. I don’t like you and Noony sneaking ‘round the forest all by yer lonesome, and we can’t just let that brother of yours stay missing. Would ya mind if I helped you look for him? At least so I can rest easy knowin’ you’re not worrying yer pretty head to death, and that you won’t get eaten by a toad or somethin’” Hanzo laughed, Jesse following along. “It’s a real fear!”

They sobered after a few seconds, but Hanzo’s smile stayed. He rested his hand on the nearby finger for less than a second, barely thinking of the contact, before typing in two words. Jesse didn’t have to look at the phone to know they were ‘thank you’.

 

They looked. They followed vague trails in the forest, checked every inch of bark for signs of Genji, even sent the very supervised Udon and Soba to ask the local sparrows, but there was no sign of the fairy prince. Hanzo looked into the reflection of the water every day, always dreading to find something different, but looking at the same scene every time. Genji, smiling, laughing, gazing lovingly at someone else. It was obvious he had fallen in love with someone, but two things worried Hanzo the most about that.

One, whom had Genji fallen for? And two:

Why was his back still blurred?

Hanzo stressed over those details, even showing Jesse the reflection and talking for hours on end on what mess Genji could have possibly gotten himself into. It could mean so many things considering future vision and symbolism and--

“Yer lookin’ mighty worried there, sweetheart.” Jesse said from above. Hanzo glared at him from his place on top of Noony and turned back to the forest floor. Four months had gone by. Four months of Hanzo not knowing more from Genji than a vague vision, and it was driving him crazy.

Jesse called him from behind, only to show him a beautiful brown and pink moth spreading its wings on a nearby tree. He pulled his phone out immediately and took thousands of pictures of it.

Genji’s disappearance was not the only thing driving him crazy, judging by how terribly endearing he found the grown man dressed as a cowboy currently cooing at a moth--even if the moth was absolutely beautiful, and Hanzo despaired over the fact that he couldn’t fly at it and admire it up close. Hanzo looked away, hiding a smile and a laugh, and spared a glance around. They still weren’t too far away from the edge of the forest, but the sight was just eerie enough to grow daunting. Trees got taller the deeper they went, and Hanzo could see the canopy grow as thick as the fog in the distance. Jesse refused to let them go there. It was far too easy to get lost in the fog and far too troublesome to run away from black bears. Hanzo didn’t insist.

“All right, I’m done. Little fella don’t seem to like the spotlight.” Jesse said, just as the moth flew away rather annoyed. He took one last glance at his phone, before looking around and arranging some rocks at his feet into a line. “All right, time to go. We’ll keep lookin’ tomorrow, darlin’.” Hanzo frowned, but nodded. They went back to the house, Hanzo’s gaze lingering on the distant fog.

 

Hanzo cuddled with Noony in the upstairs couch shamelessly, completely comfortable yet perfectly aware of the cowboy’s heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. Jesse appeared, holding a bowl of popcorn in his hands, and easily sat on the couch next to Hanzo and Noon. He put a movie in the TV before them wordlessly, the next one in the list of movies he wanted to show Hanzo. 

The fairy grabbed a single popcorn and leaned on Noony’s belly, taking in the scenes of an old--musical?--movie. The first song started, a young girl singing about a world over the rainbow, and soon enough Jesse started singing along the words. Hanzo smiled, looking at the weary cowboy and his easy smile, listening to his deep voice and feeling his warmth even from the other side of the couch. 

Hanzo forgot about his kingdom for a second. About the crown, about the stress, about duty. For a second it was just him and a cowboy, somewhere over the rainbow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: the moth Jesse finds is an agrius cingulata or pink-spotted hawkmoth. I found one at work the other day, they're really pretty!! (And they don't like being poked with a pencil lol, I blame my boss).


	8. Safe House

Soon enough the movie started getting extremely weird by Hanzo’s standards. The girl and her dog reminded him of Jesse and Noony--probably only because she had a dog, Hanzo really needed sleep--but just as soon as the very beautiful scene where the world suddenly took color was over, Hanzo’s level of understanding dropped, and it didn’t take long for Hanzo to kidnap Jesse’s phone to ask question after question of that magical world.

‘Why would the good witch not protect them from the evil witch?’ Hanzo tapped Jesse’s thigh and showed him the screen, Jesse laughed.

“Darlin’, she just said so! She wasn’t strong enough to defend ‘em all on her own against the wicked witch!” 

‘Why would a scarecrow be able to talk?’

“Honeybee, yer a five-inch tall fairy prince who can control water, talk to animals and make stuff float with dust. A talkin’ scarecrow is more believable.”

‘Why is the tin man even alive?’

“Oh, I know that one! He used to be human, y’see, but he fell in love with a gal and the other wicked witch enchanted his axe to chop off his limbs one by one so...” With every question Hanzo inched closer, up until he was leaning on Jesse’s leg and typing slowly with his left hand. Jesse stopped his explanation to look at him, hair down and leaning completely against him, and smiled at the prince.

“C’mon Han, that can’t be comfortable fer ya.” He showed his hand for him to stand on it and lifted him, before swinging his legs up and lying down on the couch, careful not to kick the sleeping Noony. He lied sideways facing the screen, and left Hanzo in the space between him and the edge, with just enough space on the cushion behind his head for Hanzo to lie there too. He did, glancing at Jesse warily, before mimicking his position.

Hanzo loved it immediately. No breaking his spine on the soft cushion, no crushing his wings, and Jesse’s warmth surrounding him like a blanket. Gravity did its thing, though, and soon enough his wings were pressing against Jesse’s arm. He didn’t mind at all.

The movie went on for about half an hour before Jesse asked to switch, and all but scooped Hanzo on his chest and lied down on his back. Hanzo lied on his stomach, rising and falling with Jesse’s breath.

It was no surprise that Hanzo didn’t even get to see the wizard before they were both sound asleep.

 

Months went by. The fog in the forest grew thicker by the day, and the temperatures lowered until Hanzo could barely stand to be anywhere but in Jesse’s shirt pocket or cuddling with Noony. Jesse insisted that he was spoiled from being in the fairy kingdom all his life, Hanzo insisted his house was far too cold.

With the cold also came the real deadline. First draft of the novel completed and nearly corrected, Jesse was absolutely thriving. A month away from the deadline and only mild proofreading left to do, Jesse decided to try another one of Gabe’s miraculous writing hacks. Namely, reading the novel aloud. Thankfully for Jesse, the perfect rubber duck to listen to him was currently cuddling with his dog in the nearby couch.

“Sweetpea! You busy?” Hanzo looked up from the phone and tilted his head, before shaking it slightly. Jesse beamed and dropped himself heavily on the couch, making Noony whine a bit. 

“Sorry sweetie, I’m happy! I’ve been readin’ these things aloud and there’s so many mistakes I’ve already found, but I need ya to help me out on this one.” Hanzo nodded without hesitation. If possible, Jesse smiled wider. “Thanks, honey! Now, I’ve checked just about every chapter in this god-forsaken book and none of ‘em have any more problems that I know of or, you know, wanna correct. ‘Cept for this one. I just can’t get it right, y’know?” Hanzo frowned, and sharply nodded his head. ‘Why?’

“It’s, uh, the scene when the cowboy notices he’s sweet on the samurai. I’ve never been good at romance scenes--” Hanzo snorted, extremely unbecoming of a prince. He didn’t care. Jesse laughed a bit. “--They’re too complicated! I can spit ‘em out and ignore their flaws fer a while, but not when I’m proofreadin’! Anyways, mind listenin’ to it and writin’ down anything I should change?” Hanzo fought back his smile, but nodded immediately. Jesse started reading from the printed chapter.

“Hajime walked into the room slowly, carefully. Sergio could see him analyzing everyone nearby, counting the soldiers and taking note of their presence like they had been taught so many years ago. He propped himself up on his elbow, peering at the cyborg with a new sense of alert. Hajime signaled to someone behind him, and there he was again.

Tatsuo.

It all rushed back to Sergio at once. The laughs, the lingering glances. The midnight talks that often had more silence than words, yet left them both feeling as if they’d known each other for their whole lives.” Hanzo breathed in sharply, but remained stoic. Jesse looked at his expression, soon turning back to the printed page. “A single memory struck him in that instant, of a moment he never thought would mean so much. Tatsuo, kneeling at the edge of a nameless lake in Canada the day before New Year’s Eve. Hair flowing in the wind and brushing against his cheekbones, dawn shining on his weary eyes and illuminating the brown spots of someone else’s blood on his traditional kyudo-gi. Sergio saw sadness, saw loneliness, saw a mirror in his eyes. But before it all, he saw the most beautiful man he’d ever met. And now, seeing him again, gray in his temples and tired shadows around his eyes, Sergio swore he wouldn’t leave him again for as long as time would let him.” 

Jesse grew silent, and the lack of words was almost deafening for them both. Hanzo released the breath he had been holding, and dared to look at Jesse’s eyes. 

There was something there, something so powerful and inviting, yet so terrifying, that Hanzo couldn’t possibly look away. Jesse pressed his lips together and sighed, dragging his gaze away from the prince to scratch at the fluffy dog behind with a hesitant smile.

“You didn’t write anythin’, did ya?”

 

Within two weeks, Hanzo realized he trusted Jesse with his life. 

That was the only thing in his mind when he called for him at the top of his lungs from the couch, video paused on the screen of Jesse’s smartphone. Jesse heard the bells and turned around curiously, to see Hanzo asking him to come closer. He did, and then the phone was being pushed toward him. 

“What didja find now, sugar plum? Hopefully not another question about the Wizard of Oz?” Hanzo rolled his eyes and pointed at the phone. Jesse looked down at it, and frowned.

“Han...why are ya showin’ me a video of a man fixin’ a butterfly’s wing?” Jesse’s tone implied that he knew exactly why. Hanzo huffed, and changed the app visible in the phone’s screen. He showed a previously written note to Jesse.

“I trust you. My wing is never going to heal, this is my last chance.” Jesse read the note aloud, before looking at Hanzo. 

“Han...darlin’, I’ll be honest, I won’t say no if you ask me, but are ya sure? Won’t someone back in the kingdom know how to fix it?” Hanzo shook his head, before switching to another note.

‘This is not a common wound, our healers do not know how to treat it. Besides, it already scarred.’ Jesse read. He glanced at the remains of Hanzo’s top right wing, looking at the torn tip and curled edges. The wound was much bigger than the day they’d met.

‘Will you do it?’ Hanzo wrote below. Jesse gulped, but nodded with a nervous smile.

“Who am I to say no to ya, darlin’. I’ll do my best, cross my heart.”

It was a difficult procedure, including trimming Hanzo’s broken wing--painful--and going outside to find a dead butterfly from the very luckily timed migration to cut one of its wings for Hanzo--also painful, it was a beautiful butterfly Jesse had wanted to keep. Jesse cut the thin membranes with concentration and pulse grown from years of calligraphy and months of painting, and managed to place the replacement piece of wing perfectly aligned with Hanzo’s remaining wing. He looked strange, with three translucent, glittery blue wings and one patterned like a monarch butterfly’s, but once the glue dried off and Hanzo lifted off the ground by himself once again, the dazzling smile on his face made it seem like his wings were always meant to be that way.

 

Even though the option for Hanzo to stay with Noony at all times existed--or fly to warmer places, recently--it seemed as though all other options had disappeared completely. Hanzo didn’t need excuses to fly to Jesse’s pocket, or for climbing on his chest and lying on his stomach to watch whatever movie Jesse wanted to watch. They would end up sleeping together on the couch every movie night, and Hanzo didn’t feel the slightest bit ashamed to admit he looked forward to waking up to the cowboy’s slow breathing and soft shirt. 

Cuddling with Noony soon became cuddling with Jesse and Noony at the same time, and searching the woods became searching with both on mornings and only Jesse on still-sunny afternoons, in which Jesse would talk and Hanzo would tug at his shirt or hair as response, or occasionally offer very sarcastic bell noises. Jesse talked, and talked, and talked, until the fog grew too close and the afternoon sky too red. They’d retreat to the house, Jesse would grab another chapter to proofread for the upteenth time and choose a movie for Hanzo, and Hanzo would lean against his leg until they fell asleep.

It was routine, their routine, and Hanzo loved every second of it. But of course, the day would come when that routine would stop. 

Hanzo loved their routine, but the day it stopped also meant the day they found his brother.

They left the house in the afternoon the day before Jesse’s deadline, Hanzo’s guardians left behind to look after Noony while the two of them were gone as per usual. Everything was the same, included the path Jesse took into the forest and the general direction they walked to, but something important was different.

The fog was gone.

At least, it seemed to be. Jesse took one step too close, getting slightly out of their usual range, and a large area of fog seemed to dissipate into thin air. Jesse looked at Hanzo with a frown, taking a step back, before they saw it. 

A shape carved in a nearby tree’s bark. A bird. 

Genji.

Jesse walked forward without question, each step echoing through the forest until he was once again face to face with the wall of fog, and then there was light. A path of turquoise mushrooms lighted up within the fog, leading the way to the deepest part of the forest. All through the path were Genji’s birds, so they walked on. They kept walking, maybe for an hour, all the while the fog around them grew thicker and the trees grew impossibly tall, just as Hanzo thought they would, before the scenery finally changed. Jesse took another step, and suddenly he was in a clearing he hadn’t seen before. The sky was pink, yellow and blue, and all around them the plants seemed to glow with the light of the sunset and a light within themselves. Jesse walked forward, hand raised around his pocket subconsciously, following the mushroom trail to a shallow pond, a house in the middle of it all. There, in the door, was the painting of a sparrow. 

He walked on. Feet sending ripples through the crystalline pond and splashing around them. Hanzo watched from his pocket, not thinking at all of what creature could possibly have enough power to control the very forest, and why exactly his brother was with them. Hanzo didn’t dare think at all. Jesse reached the door after what felt like years, and knocked.

The knocks echoed, and so did footsteps inside the house. Hurried, closer each second and seemingly coming from father away that he thought possible in such a small house. Soon, the door swung open.

“Okay, I’m gonna count to ten and you better explain how the hell you found this place--”

“Genji?”

The man stopped, brown eyes looking down at Jesse’s shirt pocket.

“Hanzo?”


	9. Mission Complete

Genji was human.

Or, at least, he was human-sized. Hanzo could still see his sharp ears and a faint trail of glitter sparkling behind him, not to mention the swarm of wild sparrows that rushed to the door the second he appeared, though his wings were nowhere to be seen. He shooed the birds away gently, and kept staring at his brother.

“Brother, how--”

“What on earth were you thinking, Genji?!” Hanzo flew right out of Jesse’s shirt pocket and crossed his arms, face growing several shades redder as he glared a few inches away from Genji’s face. “You ran away without a single word to anyone, you became human sized without any apparent reason, you hid in a cabin in the middle of a forest and abandoned every single one of your duties--and what even is this place?! Genji, this is a forest spirit’s domain! You cannot simply claim it as your own--”

“Excuse me, Prince Hanzo. Is there a problem?”

The voice that came from within the house seemed to reverberate through the very air around them. Soft, calm and even, but ethereal. A man appeared beside Genji, skin dark with colored marks on his face, antlers surging from the top of his head with moss at their roots and white robes shining with blue details and gold trim. The air around them grew fresh and the water near his feet seemed to shine. The forest spirit. And he was holding Genji close by the waist.

Hanzo flew down in a frenzy and grabbed Jesse’s hand, pulling it palm up in front of him to use it as a floor to kneel on. Jesse watched awkwardly, not knowing what the hell was going on at all. 

“Sir, forgive our insolence. We did not mean to intrude in your domain, and--”

“It is no problem at all, dear prince. You, your brother and your companion are very welcome here.” Hanzo frowned and looked up. The man laughed, his voice almost like bells very different from Hanzo’s chimes.

“I do not blame you for being confused. I am Zenyatta, spirit guardian of this forest. If you would like to come in, I can explain it all for you.” Something twinkled in Zenyatta’s eyes. Hanzo wasn’t sure it was a good thing. Jesse looked down at Hanzo, and the fairy sighed before nodding. Genji just seemed amused.

“That sounds mighty fine, sir. Thank you.” Jesse answered with a tip of his hat with his free hand. Zenyatta laughed again and waved a hand in dismissal.

“Just Zenyatta is fine, Jesse. You have lived in my forest for a while now, I would say we are already acquainted with each other.” Jesse frowned, but smiled at the spirit. 

“And what a beautiful forest it is! Thank you kindly for lettin’ me live in it.” Zenyatta bowed his head and took a step back to let them walk in.

“And thank you, for taking such good care of it.” 

Hanzo wondered with exasperation how Jesse could be so good at befriending people--or, well, forest spirits. Jesse took a step forward, only for the world to grow dark for a second.

When his consciousness came back, his hand was back on his side. Next to him, though, was a very human-sized Hanzo. 

Jesse could see the alarm on his face immediately and grabbed his wrist on instinct to ground him. Hanzo looked at the hand, moved his gaze up his arm, and looked at Jesse at eye level for the first time. 

“Jesse.” Hanzo said, and for the first time Jesse could hear his voice. The deep, raspy sound so different from bell chimes made his heart skip a beat.

They stared at each other for at least two minutes before Zenyatta giggled innocently.

“I hope neither of you mind this development. I thought Jesse would like to understand the conversation properly, amongst...other things.” If Zenyatta hadn’t been a forest spirit, Hanzo would have glared him down already.

Though, feeling Jesse “discreetly” lower his grip to properly hold Hanzo’s hand, the fairy prince found he didn’t mind the forest spirit’s shenanigans.

“Now, if you could please follow me…” Zenyatta held Genji’s hand as well and guided them all to a glass door in the back. He slid it open, showing them a small garden with a table in the middle. They all sat down, Hanzo and Jesse confused but barely able to focus with the thrill of their joined hands--Jesse wondered when he had regressed to his middle school self, Hanzo wondered why he hadn’t thought of this before.--And Zenyatta began to speak.

“I would like to apologize, Prince Hanzo. I am the reason Genji disappeared.” Hanzo frowned, grip tightening unconsciously. Jesse could barely keep his eyes off him.

“With all due respect, what would that reason be?” Hanzo said calmly. Jesse was sure he would never grow used to Hanzo’s voice. Zenyatta smiled calmly, only looking a little embarrassed.

“Entirely selfish on my part, I assure you. I met Genji about four years ago in this forest, and befriended him without letting him know I was the forest spirit. Soon though, I fell in love with him and revealed my true identity. I was lucky enough that he reciprocated, and…” Genji placed his free hand over their hold on each other and interrupted Zenyatta gently. Hanzo wasn’t sure that was really his brother.

“My love, may I explain the rest?” Hanzo was now completely sure that wasn’t Genji at all.

“Go ahead, my sparrow.” 

Genji looked at Hanzo and sighed, gathering courage. “Okay, so...none of this was planned, I swear. You know we had that fight like nine months ago and I ran away.” Hanzo nodded, frowning. That was his brother all right. “So, yeah, I obviously came here with Zen to hide from you for a while, a-and I only wanted to stay for a week! But you know, once I actually got to stay with Zen for so long I just couldn’t bring myself to leave. That’s why I didn’t tell anyone where I was going or take anything with me. I know it’s the dumbest reason in the universe, brother, but--”

“You had me worried, Genji.” 

Genji stopped at his brother’s even voice. “W-what?”

“I was scared you were hurt, or lost. The usual week went by, and then another one, and you never came back as you always did. I was afraid I’d lost my brother over a petty argument.” Hanzo wasn’t looking at Genji. His hold over Jesse’s hand was steel.

“Hanzo, I--”

“The entire kingdom has been looking for you all this time, Genji. I…”

The silence stretched on, before Genji breathed in sharply.

“You came to look for me.” Hanzo nodded.

“I did. I couldn’t bear the thought of you hurt or alone in this forest. I am glad to know it wasn’t the case.” 

Genji bit his lip, before standing up from his chair. Hanzo looked up just in time for Genji to hug him tightly.

“I’m sorry, brother. I promise I will never scare you like that again.” Hanzo hugged back hesitantly, but soon was holding him just as tightly.

“Thank you for coming back for me.”

 

As soon as the brothers fled to two of the maze-like house’s many bathrooms to discreetly wipe away their stubborn tears, Jesse was left alone with the forest spirit. They sat on a couch near the entrance in amicable silence, before Zenyatta spoke up. 

“I really must thank you again for respecting my domain, Jesse. Not many humans treat a forest with such kindness.” Jesse looked at him, surprised, before rubbing his neck sheepishly.

“Naw, it’s not a big deal. I haven’t done much to deserve thanks, Zen.” Zenyatta smiled at the nickname and nodded eagerly.

“Oh, but you have. I have seen you feeding the wild animals once in a while, not to mention taking care of the insects and leaving water for the birds. I believe I once saw you petting a wild rabbit even.” Jesse blushed. He sounded like a Disney princess when Zen worded it like that, but he couldn’t quite deny anything.

“Well, I just do my best not to intrude too much. Wouldn’t want one of those little fellas gettin’ hurt because of me or anythin’” Jesse smiled, Zenyatta smiling back.

“You have a kind soul, Jesse. I wouldn’t want to see it hurt.” Jesse frowned at Zenyatta’s cryptic but gentle words.

“Whaddaya mean, Zen?” Zenyatta shook his head.

“Nothing you cannot control, I assure you. More importantly, are you enjoying my magic?” The forest spirit shot him a knowing look. Jesse had the decency to blush once again.

“I’m mighty thankful for it, truly. I never thought I’d see Hanzo as, well, other than five inches tall. And his voice just--” Jesse sighed dreamily. Zenyatta nodded with a smile. 

“I am glad you are happy. But now, you must not waste time. The spell is only in this clearing, and I am certain you will not want to stay here forever.” Jesse frowned, just now realizing the fact that Hanzo wouldn’t be a human forever. 

“There’s...somethin’ I gotta do.” Zenyatta laughed.

“I am certain there is.”

 

Hanzo walked out of the bathroom silently, face freshly washed and hair tied back properly. He walked a few steps before a door nearly hit him, his brother’s head poking out from behind.

“Ah, forgive me, Brother.” Genji said with a nervous smile. Hanzo frowned at him softly.

“For hitting me with a door, or giving me gray hair with your disappearance?” Genji laughed a bit, his face a strange mix of a grimace and a smile. Oh, he missed his brother.

“You know what, let’s leave it at both.” 

They walked together through the long hallways, before Genji spoke up.

“Um, so…”

“The kingdom is fine, Genji. Lena, Mei and Satya have been handling our duties just fine.” Genji sighed in relief, before frowning.

“Wait, our? Yours too?” Hanzo frowned as well.

“I couldn’t quite tend to the kingdom and look for you at the same time.” Genji’s eyes widened.

“So, you mean you’ve actually been staying over with the cowboy all this time?!” Genji exclaimed with a grin. Hanzo rolled his eyes.

“Well, where else? The kingdom is too far from here.” Genji grinned cat-like, but didn’t say anything about it. Still, Hanzo was unnerved by the feeling that Genji knew more than he let on. They kept walking and Hanzo wondered if the hallway was always this long.

“So, brother. Another question.”

“Hmm?”

“Why was one of your wings different? Did something happen?” Genji’s voice grew concerned. Hanzo looked away.

“I...There was a problem along the way, Genji. Nothing to worry about.” Hanzo kept walking, only noticing after a few steps that Genji had stopped. He looked back at him, confused.

“So, you got hurt looking for me, right?” Genji frowned, voice knowing. Hanzo sighed, walking to his brother to lay a hand on his shoulder.

“I was careless, Genji. It’s not your fault. And it matters not now, Jesse fixed it recently and I can fly again.” Hanzo shrugged, only just now noticing how exaggerated his body language was after spending so long with the cowboy. Genji wasn’t convinced, but he nodded.

“I’m...really sorry about making you do all of this, brother. I’ve been talking to Zen and--” He sighed. “I never thought I’d say this, but I think I’m ready to be a prince.” Hanzo blinked. Just what did he talk about with Zen?

“How so?”

“Well,” Genji turned a corner Hanzo didn’t remember from before. “I may not be the most responsible or formal one around, but I do want to help people somehow. Zen just helped me see that the best way to do it is by being a proper prince.” He said, shrugging. “Also he said he’d come with me to the kingdom so I wouldn’t have to escape every other day, so that’s always a plus.” Genji grinned, making Hanzo roll his eyes.

“You are my brother indeed. I cannot believe you befriended the forest spirit.”

“Oh, I did more than that, brother.” Hanzo grimaced.

“Yes, please spare me the details.”

“You’re no fun.”

 

Hanzo felt like they walked for years before finding a door that lead to the living room, where Jesse and Zenyatta were sitting on a couch and talking about rabbits and Noony, apparently. Genji opened the door with the confidence of someone who knew exactly how to navigate the maze-like house, and Hanzo wondered if he had been stalling all along. As soon as they walked in, Zenyatta interrupted his story to shoot a knowing grin at Hanzo. 

“Now, I was just talking to Jesse and I believe you’d like to see the back of the clearing. You are fond of insects, are you not?” Hanzo frowned, but nodded. Jesse seemed strangely quiet. “Wonderful! Then you might just enjoy this more than Genji. He can barely go out without getting swarmed by sparrows. You wouldn’t mind waiting here, would you, my dearest?” Zenyatta started walking to the door, sparing a moment to kiss Genji and wink at him. Genji smiled.

“Oh, not at all. Go, I’ll wait for you.” Genji glanced at Hanzo with a grin and disappeared somewhere in the house. Zenyatta guided them outside, Jesse still not speaking a single word. The sky was dark already and a million stars shone with no clouds or moon on sight, the soft magical glow of the lake the only light around them. Zenyatta guided them to the glowing lake, the water somehow warm around their feet, and walked them around the house. There, where the garden should be, the lake stretched on to the edge of the forest, and all around the distinctive flashes of fireflies greeted them.

Hanzo gasped. It was as if there was another starry sky on earth, with small yellow lights twinkling for a second, then appearing somewhere else. The turquoise lake reflected the glow of the fireflies and the stars in the sky. It was absolutely beautiful.

“What--but--it’s August. There shouldn’t be so many fireflies, it is not--” A hand on his shoulder stopped Hanzo. Behind him, Jesse shrugged.

“I may have mentioned yer guardians to Zen. He would have gotten dragonflies but the little fellas are asleep at night. These were the next best thing.” Jesse said softly, gazing at the sight. The gold of the fireflies reflected on his brown eyes, and the blue of the lake shone lightly on his skin. Hanzo suddenly remembered the scene in his book, where the cowboy would gaze at the samurai and wonder how someone could ever be so beautiful. Hanzo never thought he would take the cowboy’s place in real life.

Jesse stared, but soon smiled softly and brushed away a stray lock of Hanzo’s hair. “Y’know darlin’, I believe this is the most beautiful I’ve seen ya.” Hanzo’s heart leapt to his throat, but he simply smiled.

“I could say the same for you, Jesse.” They were close, too close. Jesse’s hand lingered on his shoulder, the other one still hanging to his side frozen by the momentum.

“Han, I...I know yer a prince and a fairy to boot, n’ I’m just a silly human who sort of writes once every blue moon. I’m not gettin’ my hopes up but if there’s any chance ya--” Hanzo was a patient man, but he couldn’t wait anymore. He stopped Jesse with a hand on his cheek, another on the side of his neck. Hanzo never thought he would be able to touch him like this.

“There is.” Hanzo lifted his head, watching as Jesse’s face changed from nervousness to anticipation, to hope. “I love you, Jesse, and I do believe you feel the same.” He traced his thumb across Jesse’s cheek with a confident smile, a single twinge of nervousness settling in his chest. Jesse smiled.

“How could I not, Han.” Hanzo laughed, disbelieving. Jesse laughed with him. Their gazes lingered in the silence and Jesse’s hand settled on his waist, bringing him impossibly close. And, for the first time and hopefully not the last, Hanzo closed the gap.


	10. Epilogue: Mission Report

You know, when your older brother tells you you have to be responsible and a good prince and whatever instead of fooling around building junk all day, and you decide to ignore him and do whatever you want including running away with the local forest spirit?

Oh, how the tables have turned.

A few years have gone by since my brother dragged my ass back to the kingdom, forest spirit boyfriend and all, and it’s been about twenty minutes since I was officially crowned the king of the fairies. And I’ve only seen mild regret from the fairy elders so far! Screw them, I can be a good king in my sleep.

So, I’m the king now, and my beautiful forest spirit husband--Oh I’ll never get tired of this!--is the other king. My father decided to retire just after he met Zen and decided he would make an amazing leader--thanks for the vote of confidence, father--. I’ve long since extensively apologized to everyone in the kingdom for making them have to look for me all those years ago, and obviously promoted Lena to be royal messenger of the kings. If someone can handle the workload and still be excessively bubbly afterwards, that’s Lena.

Hanzo insisted that I made Satya the royal advisor too. I don’t remember most of what he said, but I believe he mentioned something like me needing someone “level-headed and reasonable to watch over you and be your impulse control.” Rude, Zen has been my impulse control for years and I haven’t done anything dumb yet.

I mean, other than running away, but that turned out fine in the end so whatever.

He also insisted that I made Mei the winter fairy leader and Brigitte the leader of the tinkers and “for the love of everything that’s good in this world don’t let Jamison be in any position of authority please.” I wondered why he didn’t mention Mako, but I couldn’t see him being the leader of such a chaotic place. He likes his peace and quiet, I know he does (so why is he friends with Jamie anyways?).

Hana and Lúcio have the frog orchestra as always. I considered promoting Hana but if she’s happy with her bunnies and frogs, who am I to judge? I also took the liberty of making Zarya the summer fairy leader, and for some reason Mei was particularly happy about this. Who knows why?

And how come I’m the king and not Hanzo? Well, he tried to be the crown prince he always was for a while, but he just wasn’t happy with it anymore. So, like the good brother I am, I kicked his ass right out of the kingdom and back to his cowboy. He’s a cowboy now too, with a little cowboy dog. I’ll never let him live this down, but well. He’s the happiest he’s ever been, so I can’t really complain.

I honestly don’t know what will happen in the future, but I’m the king now and I feel confident leading with Zenyatta. I‘m sure we’ll be the best kings in the history of fairies, believe it!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3


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